Wichita eagle., 1887-06-23
THEY GET NO REST.
CITY TOlLERS WHO WORK SEVEN
DAYS IN A WEEK.
An Army of Men at Work for the Sur.
face Railroads-Seven Day Men of the
Big Apartment Housewife Type
setterS,

face Railroads-Seven Day Men of the
settlers.
How many men in the city of New Yorl,
work seven days in the week regularly, ceas-
ing only for day or more when failing
health or some other cause outside of personal
inclnations or the rules of their employers
compel it? The careful estimates Of q number
of men connected with various organizations
and guilds of wage workers place the pro-
portion at one-fourth Of all. To begin with
the kinds of employment most familiar to the
general public, we have the thousands Of
employees of the elevated railroads. They
work seven days whether they will or not, or
leave their jobs. A great many of them,
however, prefer to take only an occasional
DAYS liberty, and would not welcome a
different rule
The surface roads of the city employ an
other army of men who work every day in
the week. Drivers, conductors, stablemen,
and starters may be found at their posts
usually not less than $50 days in year. The
bosses say that plenty of substitutes are on
hand, and that nothing prevents man taking
day off every week if he wants to, but the
meu say that no man can take day off
regularly and keep his place. Besides, wages
are not SO high that many men live and raise
families on less than Sl4 week, they say.
There are other drivers than those on street
cars who work seven days in the week, such
as the cabmen, liverymen and private coach
men of the city. To these might be added
the footmen and other male servants kept
about the houses of the well to do. If there
is any day in the year when these do not have
work to do it is an extraordinary occasion.
On Sunday, when perhaps ajority of the
population cease from their daily toll, these
servants have to work harder than on any
other day.
THE SERVANTS DAY OUT.
1t is true that every servant is supposed to
have day out, but this usually means few
hours out on Thursday afternoon. With
servants generally the rule is long hours and
low pay Walters in hotels and restaurants
keep right along as long as health permits
Cooks, porters and men of all work employed
about these establishments, and some of the
well dressed clerks as well, can be found day
in and day out at their tasks. Every hotel
has its night Waterman. So, too a great
many business houses employ the same class
of men. Every shipat the pier has its watch
man. Every new building, while unfinished,
must have its Waterman, and he is generally
kept about the new house until it is occupied.
Night or day, and sometimes both, he is on
hand for seven days in the week, and he is
lucky if he gets IS. % for his long vigil; the
usual price is 81 a day.
The big apartment houses have developed
class of seven day men, including janitors,
elevator and hall boys, and engineers and
.fireInen. Every apartment house must have
all of these. and they work right along Sun
day and all. In the down town Office build
ings the work gives the janitors Sunday
rest as a rule, but there is usually bit of
tinkering and cleaning to be DONE after all,
on Sunday.
Many tradesmen. of course, must work on
Sunday, and some of them work harder then
than on other days The avenue groceries
usually stretch the penal code limit of 10
O'Clock on Sunday to II and the meat markets
do the same. Fish markets are open, too
The milkman's curious whoop warns the
housemaid to come out with her pitcher on
Sundays as well as on other days. The baker
delivers his hot rolls and the ice cream man
his frozen delicacy. The delicatessen man
with his smoked and canned and cooked
things is behind his counter on every day,
and in many cases for fourteen hours every
Is the cigar store, although cigars were not
contemplated as an article of diet or neces-
sity by the trainers of the penal code. There
Is usually one man in each store. The drug
stores will average at least one seven day
man. In the tenement house districts the
stores that are open are not confined to those
that sell food and luxuries; dry goods, caps,
shoes and furniture dealers are TO be found
xybi ba md fol- or
course, always subject to call
THE CITY's EMPLOYEES.
In talking of wage workers the city's en-
ployeS are not often mentioned, but the entire
force of the police is on duty every day, and
so are the firemen There are q lot of park
employees so engaged, and the aggregate
of all amounts to thousands of men, who, if
they DO not find the manual labor excessively
hard, find it very combining
The surface railroads terminating in the
city employ host of seven day men. Brake
men, conductors, engineers, firemen, baggage
men, gatemen, porterS, yard men and car
cleaners are to be found at work as regularly
as the sun rises. SO are the men who worl,
on the Brooklyn bridge In the summer a
tremendous lot of men must work every day
in the week on the tugs and steamers that
II,
With Them the manual toll is severe Tho
ferry employees are another class There are
iron mills that cannot shut down,
and other factories where the product
would be ruined if rest was taken on Sun
day. Here the men seldom know a holiday.
In the tenement districts the click and rattle
of the sewing machine never ceases. Tailors.
cloakmakels, and men employed in kindred
industries bend over their work from day-
light until midnight every day increasingly.
So they do in the tenement house cigar fac
tories. There are typesetterS who work every
day in the week, but not many, for thscsprit
de corps of the union men makes them give
some unfortunate sub" chance sometimes
oftener than once a week.
Men need the barber on Sunday. or think
they do, and a thousand men are thus kept Mt
work for more or less hours every day in the
week. Telegraph operators must sit at their
tables, and line men must see that the wires
are in order on Sunday as well rs other DAYS
Musicians must play their instruments when
called ON. PawnbrokerS were never known
to put up the shutters. The slant-eyed Chi
naman, reed in hand, is at his desk on Sun
day morning, and at the ironing table or
washtub every other day.
No special mention has so far been made Of
the women who toll seven days in the week
No mention Is necessary. Except the wives
and daughters of the well to do, q few sales
women and factory girls, perhaps, and the
dlSSolute all are obliged to work seven DAYS
The sorrows OF the seamStreSSeS and others
who must work for q bare pittance are known
TO all and unheeded by mos. The present
social system, than which no better has vet
been developed. bears with unequal severity